GNOME laptop management and desktop customization

This article is adapted from shorinkiwata/archlinuxinstall, retaining the original tutorial’s operational detail while anonymizing it and correcting risk-related guidance. Package names, extensions, drivers, and interfaces may change with rolling updates. All commands below are examples for reading; they were neither executed nor validated in this task.

Prerequisites for graphics switching and hibernation#

Switching GPUs may interrupt the graphical session. Save your work first and make sure you have a working TTY or recovery entry point. The modes offered by GPU management tools depend on hardware and firmware; do not apply them based on brand alone.

Configuring hibernation involves more than adding a hook: it also requires a swap target, an initramfs resume mechanism, and a usable resume location. Modern UEFI + systemd environments can use HibernateLocation to record the location automatically. When configuring a swapfile manually, specify the device containing the file and resume_offset. Obtain the Btrfs offset with the following command; do not copy a value from another machine:

sudo btrfs inspect-internal map-swapfile -r /swap/swapfile

If kernel parameters need to be set manually:

resume=UUID=<SWAP_BACKING_FILESYSTEM_UUID> resume_offset=<BTRFS_SWAPFILE_OFFSET>

After making changes, rebuild the initramfs/UKI and boot configuration currently in use, then reboot and verify. Check support requirements separately when using encrypted swap, Secure Boot lockdown, or a specialized kernel.

Laptops#

Switching GPUs

Switch to integrated graphics mode

ASUS users can use supergfxctl

Linux for ROG Notebooks

yay -S supergfxctl

sudo systemctl enable --now supergfxd.service

扩展下载GPU supergfxctl switch

使用方法：
Integrated supergfxctl --mode Integrated
Hybrid supergfxctl --mode Hybrid
VFIO supergfxctl --mode Vfio
AsusEgpu supergfxctl --mode AsusEgpu
AsusMuxDgpu supergfxctl --mode AsusMuxDgpu

envycontrol

GitHub - bayasdev/envycontrol: Easy GPU switching for Nvidia Optimus laptops under Linux

• Switch the laptop BIOS to hybrid mode

yay -S envycontrol

• Install the GNOME extension GPU Profile Selector

https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/5009/gpu-profile-selector/

• Use the upper-right menu to switch the GPU to integrated

Run applications on the discrete GPU in hybrid mode

PRIME

sudo pacman -S nvidia-prime

• Use the prime-run command in a terminal to run software on the discrete GPU

prime-run firefox

• Use pinapp to edit the .desktop file, adding prime-run at the beginning of the command

In the GNOME desktop environment, right-click the shortcut and select the option to run with the discrete GPU

sudo pacman -S switcheroo-control

sudo systemctl enable --now switcheroo-control

Power management

Power management/Suspend and hibernate - ArchWiki

Hibernate to disk

Swap space on disk is required for hibernation

• Add the hook

sudo vim /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

BusyBox-based initramfs 使用 resume hook，必须放在 udev 和必要的存储解锁钩子之后；systemd-based initramfs 已有恢复机制，不额外加入 resume。

• Regenerate the initramfs

sudo mkinitcpio -P

• reboot

reboot

• Hibernate using a command

systemctl hibernate

Kernel parameters

[HowTo] Disable watchdogs (and silence "watchdog did not stop!") - Contributions / Tutorials - Manjaro Linux Forum

sudo vim /etc/default/grub

Add only parameters confirmed necessary through troubleshooting to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT. nowatchdog and watchdog driver blacklists disable the relevant fault detection and should not be added by default; confirm module names against the actual hardware. pcie_aspm=force may cause lockups or data risks on incompatible devices and is not a general-purpose power-saving parameter. Experiment only after identifying a specific problem, confirming support, and preparing a rollback.

power-profiles-daemon

There are three performance profiles: performance, balanced, and power-saver. Tools such as power-profiles-daemon and TLP each have their own suitable use cases; avoid enabling conflicting managers at the same time.

sudo pacman -S power-profiles-daemon

sudo systemctl enable --now power-profiles-daemon

Useful extensions

power tracker #显示电池充放电
auto power profile #配合powerProfilesDaemon使用，可以自动切换模式
power profile indicator # 配合powerProfilesDaemon使用，顶栏显示当前模式

Appearance customization#

Change the wallpaper

右键桌面选择更换背景

Customize with extensions

Arch + GNOME Customization Tutorial | Bilibili

# 安装扩展
lock screen background #更换锁屏背景
blur my shell #透明度美化
hide top bar #隐藏顶栏
burn my windows #应用开启和打开的动画
user themes #主题，浏览器搜索gnome shell theme下载主题
logo menu # top bar的左上角显示一个logo,好玩

Customize themes

• Remove the x used to close windows from the title bar

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout 'appmenu:'

Cursor theme

Theme download site [https://www.gnome-look.org/browse?cat=107&ord=latest%5D%28https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnome-look.org%2Fbrowse%3Fcat%3D107&ord=latest) Place the folder inside the downloaded .tar.gz file in ~/.local/share/icons/; create the icons folder if it does not exist

GNOME theme

[https://www.gnome-look.org/browse?cat=134&ord=latest%5D%28https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnome-look.org%2Fbrowse%3Fcat%3D134&ord=latest) Download pages usually provide instructions. The file location is ~/.themes/; after placing the files there, change the theme in the user themes extension’s settings

Terminal customization

• Install fonts

sudo pacman -S ttf-jetbrains-mono-nerd

• Install zsh

sudo pacman -S zsh

• Change the shell to zsh

chsh -s /usr/bin/zsh

# 登出

# 启动终端按0生成默认的配置文件

starship

Starship

sudo pacman -S starship

vim ~/.zshrc

eval "$(starship init zsh)"

Preset themes

https://starship.rs/presets/ Choose one you like, download it, rename it to starship.toml, and move it to the ~/.config directory

Syntax highlighting and autocompletion

Zsh highlighting plugins generally belong after other plugins that modify ZLE. The original configuration entries are retained below; adjust the loading order according to the current plugin documentation.

• Syntax checking, completion, and tab

sudo pacman -S zsh-syntax-highlighting zsh-autosuggestions zsh-completions

vim ~/.zshrc

Write the following

# 语法检查和高亮
source /usr/share/zsh/plugins/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh
source /usr/share/zsh/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
# 开启tab上下左右选择补全
zstyle ':completion:*' menu select
autoload -Uz compinit
compinit

source ~/.zshrc

Ghostty customization

• Download the catppuccin color configuration and paste it into ~/.config/ghostty/themes/

https://github.com/catppuccin/ghostty?tab=readme-ov-file

• Edit the ~/.config/ghostty/config configuration file. For example, if you downloaded frappe:

theme = Catppuccin Frappe # 按已安装主题名称选择，可用 ghostty +list-themes 查看

• Hide the title bar

window-decoration = none

• Set transparency

background-opacity=0.8

• Set the font and font size

font-family = "Adwaita Mono"
font-size = 15

Official verification resources#

ArchWiki: PRIME.

ArchWiki: Power management/Suspend and hibernate.

Ghostty Configuration Reference.

Official TLP Documentation.